Chapter 34 ordinary but great revolutionary

In the spring of 1960, when I was working in the Ministry of Commerce, I was temporarily transferred to the "National Finance and Trade Technology Innovation and Technology Revolution Conference" as the head of the secretariat, mainly to draft conference documents.The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Finance and Trade of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. There are two main documents of the meeting, one is the report of Li Xiannian, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, and the other is the report of Comrade Ma Mingfang, Minister of the Central Ministry of Finance and Trade.The temporary office of the secretariat was set up in the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and people from all departments of finance and trade participated.After two months of repeated revisions, the drafts of the two documents were reported to Huang Zhi, secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance and Trade, for comments. He conveyed some instructions from Comrade Ming Fang, and finally revised the final draft.Soon after the conference was over, we all went back to our units.

A few months later, the new Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was established, the Ministry of Finance and Trade of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was abolished, and Comrade Ming Fang was transferred to the third secretary of the Northeast Bureau (Song Renqiong was the first secretary and Ouyang Qin was the second secretary).The cadres of the Ministry of Finance and Trade were assigned to the Northeast Bureau, Northwest Bureau and other units, and a few people were also transferred to the various departments of the Ministry of Finance and Trade. Among them, I was among the few people in the Commerce Department.I was very reluctant to go to the Northeast, so I successively approached Director Wu of the Personnel Bureau, Deputy Minister Wu Xuezhi, and Deputy Minister Yao Yilin (he also served as the Deputy Minister of Finance and Trade).Director Wu said, we have reported to the Ministry of Finance and Trade that if you want to keep you, you can be replaced by any other director. Comrades from the Ministry of Finance and Trade replied that they do not want other directors, but me.Deputy Minister Yao Yilin advised me that Minister Ma went to the Northeast and asked us for someone, and it would be bad if we refused.I wanted to talk about this, so I had to obey the assignment with great reluctance, and in 1960, I was transferred to the Finance Committee of the Northeast Bureau as an inspector.Comrade Mingfang was in charge of the finance committee, and I became his indirect subordinate.

1961 was the most severe period of temporary difficulties, and the three northeastern provinces were extremely scarce in commodities.Our finance committee calculated a lot of accounts according to the secretaries' intentions, and wrote a report to the Central Secretariat.The main meaning is that the Northeast is a heavy industry base. There are a lot of production materials such as steel, timber, and coal transferred into the customs. The local light industry is relatively poor. I request the support of the central government. I also listed some commodities such as sugar, tobacco, alcohol, and daily industrial products. quantity.This material is my main manuscript, and I am familiar with the Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce, and the reporting team led by Comrade Mingfang made me a member.

During the few days in Beijing, we lived together at the Beijing Hotel and were often together. I had more opportunities to directly contact Comrade Mingfang.He is calm and quiet, thoughtful about his work, has few words, and speaks softly, with a strong northern Shaanxi accent.He is approachable and has no airs of a senior cadre. We can share any opinions with him without feeling restrained.In his speech, he was worried and concerned about the people's suffering from hunger and lack of this or that.He tried his best to familiarize himself with some of the economic data we calculated and the materials we provided, and reported the difficulties in the Northeast to the Central Secretariat with a high sense of responsibility and mission, and put forward urgent requests.His hard work and sincerity in pleading for the people played an important role in the future struggle for commodities in the three northeastern provinces.

In January 1962, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an enlarged Central Work Conference in Beijing, also known as the "Seven Thousand People Conference".One is mainly to analyze the situation in the temporary difficult period and propose corresponding countermeasures, promote democracy, and call on everyone to tell the truth.Chairman Mao said: "Exhale during the day and watch a play at night." The central government's convening of such a large-scale meeting in this way is well-intentioned, and it has played an important role in unifying thinking and understanding the situation.As a staff member of the Northeast delegation, I mainly assist Comrade Mingfang to do some things.I remember that during this period of time, Comrade Mingfang's depressed mood eased slightly, and he strengthened his confidence in the unity of the whole party to overcome temporary difficulties, and he also proposed some measures.In order to express his mood at this time, he also wrote a poem and published it in "Liaoning Daily".I remember that the poem has the meaning of spring breeze warming up, expressing his confidence in overcoming temporary difficulties.In order to let the comrades of the Finance Committee of the Northeast Bureau understand the spirit of the conference as soon as possible, he asked me to return to Shenyang a day or two earlier.At that time, unlike now, there were copying conditions, and I was worried that it would be inaccurate when I went back, so I had to work overtime to copy a copy of the theme report (draft) made by Comrade Shaoqi day and night. I had to do so.I did not report this matter to Comrade Mingfang before and after the event, lest he worry about it.After I returned to Shenyang, I reported the situation of the conference to Bai Qian, director of the Finance Committee, and other comrades, and handed over the copied documents (drafts) to him.In particular, I mentioned that Comrade Mingfang asked me to come back early to communicate information, hoping that everyone can make early preparations and better implement the spirit of the conference. Comrades from the Finance Committee deeply admire Comrade Mingfang's responsible attitude of worrying about the country and the people and being conscientious.

In the unprecedented catastrophe of the "Cultural Revolution", the Northeast Bureau was the hardest hit area. Song Renqiong and other leading cadres were all overthrown, and the staff of the government agencies were also caught in disastrous factional struggles.Among the leading cadres, Comrade Mingfang suffered the most. He was first "picked up" as a "traitor" in the Xinjiang prison, imprisoned and tortured to death in prison.At that time, I was distorted and said that I attacked "Deputy Commander Lin" because of one sentence.Because I went out to work with Comrade Mingfang, and I was transferred from Beijing together, and because the Organization Department of the Northeast Bureau leaked information in the early days of the "Cultural Revolution", saying that several cadres of the Finance Committee of the Northeast Bureau had been approved to be promoted to the director level of the department. Only because the "Cultural Revolution" was launched but not announced, I am included in this list.Adding these factors together, some people added a small crime to me, "the black minion of the traitor Ma Mingfang", "the little reptile of the traitor Ma Mingfang", and thus put me on the same line as Comrade Mingfang .Before he was wrestled, I and several comrades from the agency met him in a place where he took shelter from the wind and rain.At that time he was extremely tired and melancholy, and in a deep voice he told us some things, mainly that we should talk about policies and pay attention to working methods.How did he know that the "Gang of Four" and its minions in the Northeast completely regarded him as an enemy, and they wanted to put him to death and then hurry up.Sure enough, he was thrown into prison soon.Therefore, that time was the last time I saw him. In 1969, I was released from the "cowshed" and was punished by the party discipline. The whole family was sent to Beipiao County in accordance with the "policy" of the Liaoning Provincial Revolutionary Committee to "jump the queue and settle down." ", worked as a farmer for eight years, and was transferred back to Beijing in 1977. In 1979, the Party Central Committee vindicated Comrade Mingfang, and held a grand and solemn memorial service in Babaoshan. Most of the former Northeast Bureau comrades we transferred to Beijing attended the memorial service.We deeply miss this ordinary but great revolutionary.When it comes to his experience in his later years, he is full of emotion.